Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Boardwalk Empire

Not that you asked, but my favorite show these days is HBO's Boardwalk Empire.
~
The season finale is next Sunday, but there is sure to be a season to follow.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Winter Projects

While having Thanksgiving at Ryan's apartment, I realized that I had never come through with a toy chest for my grandson, Ethan, much as I had for his brother, Will.
~
Course there were good reasons at the time and it isn't an issue of pure neglect, but now it's time to rectify things and get some overdue projects like the chest and the gunning dory back on track.
~
All of the moulds for the dory including the bow and stern keels are complete along with the base, so that really is just a project ready for strip planking.  I have the starter cedar 1/4" strips as well, left over from the Herreshoff Columbia Tender.
~
Ethan's chest though still has some decision points.  Do I do it with the traditional dovetail desgn that worked so well with Will's or do I try a panelized version like this model found in Fine Woodworking a few years ago?
~
And Will's was a nice combination of mahogany and oak which I had on hand at the time due to the remodeling of the Beverly Ave. Kitchen.   If I have to buy stock, it would be nice to work with walnut or cherry.
~
So we'll try to move these out of the shop by springtime.
~
That's the current good intention,  Nanepashemet Telecom always takes precedence though unless Joanne or I win Powerball or something.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Laying Low

I tried hard to lay low today, after all the turkey at Ryan's and then the big Pat's win over the J-E-T-S.... Jets, Jets, Jets.
~
The Jets are the only team that I really like to see the Pats beat, and hate to seem them lose to... and over the years, the Jets have had the upper hand a disordinate portion of the time for my standards.   But not last night, which was a nice cap to a semi- perfect day.
~
Thanksgiving is the best holiday.  No political correctness required, no religious overtones.... just be thankful and hang with your family, watch football, take cat naps.  Course the family squabbles always arise, but that's just part of the charm of the day.
~
Joanne and I got up this morning and headed over to the YMCA, which will be a permanent part of the tradition from here on in if I can help it.  I still feel fat and loggy, but at least we did the noble thing.
~
No Black Friday shopping for me.  I can do without the crowds and do as much online as possible.
~
After the Y, Katelyn's betrothed, Brady and I went to the dump and got rid of about a dozen plastic bags of Bash Trash.   I really appreciated the help as I had budgeted about an hour for the job, but with Brady, the whole thing was complete in twenty minutes.   He's definitely a keeper as a potential son-in-law.
~
Then I settled in for some serious couch potato time, but by 1:00 PM, had the itches to do something, so went over to the Peabody Nanepashemet Warehouse and putted around with the woodworking machinery.  Plus Joanne was heavy into Christmas decorations and that's definitely not my strong suit.
~
So that's all.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

POTW Week 47

Happy Thanksgiving Peeps.
It's the morning after the Bash and definitely feels like the morning after.
~
But how bad can it be when we had two automatics presented at the hallowed occasion?
~
Brendt D'Orio was the first to make the ultimate gesture of the gift of the King of Scotch, Lagavulin 16 Year Single Malt.   But before the dust had settled, the lovely Maria Rowen had followed suit with another class move.
~
Both are no strangers as Peeps of the Week and have achieved the designation numerous times.  
~
But Peeps, I have to disclose a huge indescretion perpetrated upon me by Brendt's trophy wife, Kerry, who asked me to screw with Brendt by not naming him a POTW.  Are you serious, Kerry????  Do you really want me be to phuck around with an immutable Law of the Nanepashemet Universe?????  I am beyond annoyed, but in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I will forgive you.... this time.

ANNOUNCING.....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 47th Week of 2012

Brendt D'Orio (Automatic Lagavulin Rule)
Maria Rowen (Automatic Lagavulin Rule)
Kerry D'Orio
Katelyn Nestor
Rob Wise
Amanda Johnson

We are going over to Ryan's House for Turkey dinner today, with the Patriots playing this evening.  So we will definitely have a Happy Thanksgiving.   Hope you do too

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Pre-Apology

Peeps...
It's the holiday season...
~
So I'm officially not letting stuff aggravate the crap out of me.
~
President in Burma/Myamar when Israel is getting Bombed and the Fiscal Cliff looms Large????  No Biggie.
~
Governor Deval Patrick giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants??? Make sure they have enough left over for Domino's late night pizza delivery.
~
Federal Judge Wolf spending our public funds on sex changes for murderers????  I've seen him do stupid shit before so WTF.
~
See????  Even this Bullshit can't get me out of my mellow holiday mood.
~
Tomorrow, I'll be racheting down the action at Nanepashemet Telecom after a little invoicing chores, then will be making the dough for the White Trash Balls that Brian Butler and Will Crawford crave so much, then I will dig out the turkey fryer and give it a serious cleaning for the Buffalo wings.
~
Then Mike and I will hit the Packy for the Beer and Wine run.  That is becoming our little father/son pre-bash tradition.
~
Sometime after dark, tomorrow evening, the biggest event in a Nanepashemet Peep's life..... the Thanksgiving Eve Bash.... will be fully implemented in all of it's refined yet tasteless splendor.
~
If I don't see you, "Happy Thanksgiving."
If I do see you, "I apologize ahead of time for all the crazy shit coming your way."

Monday, November 19, 2012

Authomatics and Expectations.

Although there have been a few Automatic Peeps of the Week this year, we will be hard pressed to meet the record at the Thanksgiving Eve Bash last year when no less than five bottles of Lagavulin were conveyed with great ceremony to the Mountain of a Man, thus triggering an Authomatic POTW designation.
~
Not that I advocate this practice, Peeps.  Although the gesture is more than appreciated.
~
As the great actor, Anthony Hopkins said,..."Expect Nothing, Accept Everything."
~
So we will be heading to the Bash in that exceptional frame of mind.  It makes everything so much easier.
~
Speaking of that, you already know if you are invited, even if no formal invitations exist. 
You know who you are.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Bash Anticipation

It's the weekend before Thanksgiving, but more importantly... the week before the Thanksgiving Eve Bash.
~
The air is growing thick with anticipation as Peeps keep making references to the annual genteel, gaudy, refined, yet tasteless event that has been the highlight of the holiday season for  the last twenty years or so.
~
This year, I was thinking of giving the turkey frier a rest which would mean that the buffalo wings and white trash balls would be omitted from the menu..... got a lot of negative feedback immediately on that idea, so we'll be keeping to tradition.  Some things can't be tampered with, I guess.
~
Although invitations are never necessary, I've extended formal invites to both Liz Warren, and Scott Brown as a kind of mending fences gesture.   Liz should feel completely at ease because she will be among plenty of her constituents getting "hammered".  And we won't be making any "Native American" cracks, either.... at least not at the beginning of the evening.
~
However,  I can't be responsible for what happens as the event plays through.   We take it as a point of pride that no arrests have ever occurred over the years, and there have been zero medical emergencies.  So that's an excellent sign that the Bash is a class event.
~
More to come on this important topic....

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Sound Driving

It was a long trip to New Haven yesterday, Peeps.  Lots of driving and two quick meetings.  But it's all for a good cause... the JJ Fund.
~
Until my Trust Funds kick in, I'll be forced to contort myself into a human pretzel after 7+ hours of driving to Long Island Sound and back in the Ford F150 Pickup.
~
On the way home, I picked up Howie Carr on 680AM just south of the Massachusetts line in Sturbridge.   He was on a roll commenting about Senator John Kerry's prospect of becoming Obama's Secretary of State or Defense. 
~
Kerry is another Dem who has embellished his past and manages to get the Massholes to maintain him in their hope to shore up the gravy train.  I always thought he was a Vietnam war hero until Veteran's groups started to expose the falsehoods in his War Record.  
~
He is famous for protesting the War and throwing his medals over the White House Fence.... turns out the medals belonged to someone else.  He's the one who had the $8 million custom yacht built in New Zealand when he could have stimulated the New England Boatbuilding industry, then moors it in Rhode Island. in an effort to avoid Mass tax.
~
Thank God he wasn't elected President, but how could he be worse than our current situation?  I would prefer that he was removed as my Senator though and becomes a National liability in Obama's Cabinet... kind of spreading the pain.
~
Although, the informed Massachusetts Electorate, also known as a Democratic herd of Sheep, will probably give us another whackjob, fake Indian, Senator replacement to ladle out the gravy.  Voting out Scott Brown exposed  what a mindless mentality exists in our once proud Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Replace a competent doer with a blatant liar.
~
The Kerry comments on Carr's radio program powered the last two hours of a brutal commute.
~
Not really complaining though.  At least I have a job even though my Boss is kind of a big fat Jerk.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Hakuna Matata





  • Waterfront Offerings
  • Land Offerings
  • Master Manipulators


    I believe that the Patraeus affair has been manipulated as a smokescreen to refocus our attention from the incredible Obama Administration response to Benghazi.
    ~
    A masterful move by Master Manipulators.
    ~
    These guys are good.... stay tuned for more manipulation.

    Tuna Lips said....
    Ta heck with water boarding, let's deploy some of this fit and trim cooze as an advanced interagatin' tekneek. Themses supreme leader Osama had a box full of porn. He liked the well groomed sort, trimmed about the hocks and other points of interest. Boy appreciated ass washing. They is vulnerable like that, I spect. Give me a company of street walkers and ole TL will bring these savages to they knees inside a year, allowing for training, of course.

    Monday, November 12, 2012

    Utility Movable Shelving

    Quite a few of you Peeps have been asking me to design some Utility Movable Shelving that can be built quickly and cheaply.
    ~
    Actually, none of you have asked for it, but I designed this anyway using the free Google Sketchup 3D Modeling program.
    ~
    It is made from stock 8' length framing lumber and all cuts are 2'.
    ~
    24 riser corner frame pieces, 2' pieces - 6 total
    12 Shelf stiflfener 8' pieces
    4 Riser stiffemer 8' pieces
    2 4x8x1/2" PW pieces
    ~
    Buy .......
    (24) 2x3's
    (4) 4x8 PW
    Box of 2 1/2" Dry wall Screws
    (6) Casters optional for Mobility
    Casters fastened by (3) 2x6's
    ~
    The left side of the drawing shows a 2x3 stud stiffener that goes the length of the riser frames.  This carries on all four sides, but was left out on the right side for clarity of the construction detail.
    ~
    Everything is fastened by 2 1/2" drywall or deck screws.
    ~
    At the time of this post, I could buy 2x3 eight foot studs for $1.50 ea and the 1/2" 4x8 Plywood sheets were running about $25 each.  Plus $10 for 2 1/2 box of Drywall or Deck Screws.
    ~
    You can get the casters for all prices.   The Movable feature is optional.
    ~
    So my stock cost before casters was $136.00. ~ The shelves are designed to hold the RubberMaid Plastic Containers that I store my tools and misc. materials in.   With good quality casters you will probably get the total materials cost up to around $200.00.
    ~
    I had Home Depot rip the Plywood sheets to the 2' width.  If you have a chop saw, some Irwin Adjustable Clamps and a decent screw gun, this can be assembled in about four hours.
    ~
    I'm building two of these babies.  They should really clean up the clutter in the Peabody Nanepashemet Shop and maybe I will set up the strongback for the Marblehead Gunning Dory.

    Saturday, November 10, 2012

    Saturday Morning Outlook

    For most people, this is a long weekend.  And since the banks are closed and I can't get into any town halls to pull permits, Nanepashemet Telecom will probably be taking the speed down a little bit.  We'll be revving things up in New Haven County as next week develops though.
    ~
    But this morning, we have a whole weekend to look forward to.  BC is playing undefeated Notre Dame today and the Pats take on the Bills tomorrow, so I have to fit in some quality time in front of the television, and I have a couple of leasing loose ends to take care of on the Nanepashemet front, but outside of these things, my time is free.
    ~
    So I'll hit the YMCA sometime this morning.... an hour or so on the pain machines, then some weight work to maintain definition, followed by some wave generation in the pool.  I have these new goggles that let me see everything while I'm swimming... not always a good idea.
    ~
    After the Y, I will take advantage of the warm temps to plant the spring bulbs and tend to the flower garden out front.  I know how you Peeps look forward to my floral arrangements, and spring will be spectacular next year.
    ~
    Then I'll finish the PVC boat cover for the Herreshoff Columbia Tender, before finding a suitable spot on the couch to watch the BC Football Game.
    ~
    I'm pretty sure Joanne has dinner plans, so I'll shower up and be ready with sharp and pithy dinner party wit after a tough day at heavy duty leisure.
    ~
    Sometimes, being a Mountain of a Man means that you have to man up to meet life's challenges.  Not today though.  By Sunday night, I'll be ready with a Veteran's Day observation.
    ~
    Have a nice weekend.

    Friday, November 09, 2012

    OFFICIAL HAS-BEEN HOCKEY TEAM of NANEPASHEMET

    Peeps....
    Just as my blood pressure was starting to ease down after this God Awful political setback to the Mountain of a Man, I get this incredibly annoying Friday afternoon email that has me brimming with consternation and pretty irritated too.

    Dear Mr. Nestor-

    I apologize for contacting you directly, I would assume that a man of your stature has significant demands on your time; however, I couldn’t located the contact information for the people that manage your public affairs matters.

    I realize that Election Day has passed and that it could reasonably be expected that all campaigning has stopped, however, the Beer League hockey season has just begun and our stumping never stops. As I understand you now have two of your progeny on the upstart Nucks team, I wanted to check in with you and ensure that the (original) Brickyard Mooseknuckles will remain the Official Has-Been Hockey team of Nanepashemet. The Nucks may be younger, they may be better and they may be more successful, but I’m not sure that they encapsulate everything people like us have worked so hard to accumulate; age, girth, fatty livers. Those are three things that I can promise you we bring to the rink week-in and week-out. We will never fail to bring our fat asses to the rink, unless of course we go straight to the bar or have fallen asleep on the couch.

    I appreciate your continued support.

    Sincerely,

    Brian Donovan
    Vice President
    Big Ass Bank in Boston.

    Peeps... if you were a Mountain of a Man like myself.... how would you respond to this pathetic plea for a perpetual place in posterity????     Does Mr. "Has Been Marblehead Hockey Great" Brian think that the designation of a Nanepashemet Official Endorsement can ever be lessened or tarnished?  Who does he think the MOAM is ???  Lance Armstrong  or someone????
    ~
    I could go off the deep end, but it's time for a little composure....  
    ~
    Brian, the Hindus have shown us that the Universe maintains a sacred tome called the Akashic Records.  Once something as important as a Nanepashemet Official Endorsement has been set down, it is engraved in the Akashic Records and can never be erased.
    ~
    And by the way, many a Boilermaker was downed at the DiFillipo's Brickyard establishment  that used to be called the 50 Club by the MOAM before you strapped on your first pair of skates, so maintain the proper respect.  We didn't need a freaking hockey game as an excuse to exact  a bit of euphoria in those hallowed halls.
    ~
    I'm pretty sure that's hit the Akashic Records too.
    ~
    The Mooseknuckles remain the OFFICIAL HAS-BEEN HOCKEY TEAM of NANEPASHEMET.
    Now I have to rest.

    A New Day?

    It's a New Day Peeps.
    ~
    I get the feeling from my Lefty friends that they have an attitude like, "Holy Shit... we won.  Now what do we do?"
    ~
    You can't say the country is racist, and you can't blame everything on Bush.  That leaves them looking in the mirror, rubbing their eyes.  Liz Warren sure seemed that way in her first press conference as our new Elected US Senator.   Can you say "Deer caught in the Headlights," Mr Rogers?
    ~
    And even though the Analysts say that the Republicans are out of touch with the people, they still control the US House of Representatives.   Figure that out!
    ~
    The fact is that this country chose a President by a 2% margin and the majority of states favor the Republicans.  The Liberals don't have a mandate, and they had better govern that way.
    ~
    So now the Lefties are saying... "We have to compromise."... Something that was woefully deficient in the first Obama administration.
    ~
    Let's say that you give Obama a pass on the first go around.... learning curve, state of the economy, on-agoing war in Iraq.... stuff like that.  Now the Dems are sitting in the seat of power with no legacy diversions.  Show us your stuff.  Don't just stand there all mumbly peg like Liz Warren with no rehearsed  sound bites to rely on. Now it is all you. 
    ~
    Is it a New Day?   We'll see what they have.

    Wednesday, November 07, 2012

    Clean Hands

    Peeps -
    I told you who to vote for, and you didn't do it.
    ~
    So my hands are clean.    Any shit that hits the fan from here on in is all you.
    ~
    Not my fault.....  I had nothing to do with it.
    ~
    I had some of my Lefty friends today say that it is a new day... that the people have spoken.... that we should all come together for compromise and prosperity... and that I should stand aside and shut the phuck up.
    ~
    I mean.... can't a Liberal ever have any fun????   You phucking won.  Enjoy your day you uptight shitheads.  Sing a little "Kumbaya" and snarl a little less.
    ~
    I'm not bitter.  The Lord has set a new path for us... for a greater and lasting glory.   This is a temporary detour.
    ~
    But don't worry. I'll continue to write this pathetic Blog.... and you will continue to pathetically read it.
    ~
    Pathetic.... but my hands are clean.

    End of the Republic

    "When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. "
    - Benjamin Franklin

    “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
    ― Alexis de Tocqueville


    $16 Trillon and Counting.
    4 more years?

    Are we on this Path?

    Maria Rowen said....

    Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark. In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
    —AYN RAND... Don't lose heart-Sarah Palin



    Tuesday, November 06, 2012

    Don't OverReact

    Here's the thing, Peeps.
    ~
    Don't Overreact.
    ~
    If Romney wins, every day won't be the Balls.
    ~
    And if Obama wins, every day won't Suck.
    ~
    We will cope either way, and in the end, your happiness and well being is entirely up to you.
    ~
    God Bless America.

    Tuna Lips said....

    I agree. It taint likes either one can uninvent corn likker and road house hookers. Stays the course, come what may.



    Monday, November 05, 2012

    Voting Advice

    It was quite a busy and aggravating day for me Peeps, as I fielded emails and voicemails in a steady neurotic stream of requests asking me who to vote for.
    ~
    Naturally, I gave each and every request a nurturing, patient, and concerned response.
    ~
    Something like....."What are you asking me for, NumbNuts?  Don't you have a shred of freaking sense in your freaking vacant void of a cranium?"
    ~
    It's important to maintain the self esteem of people who can't figure out how many sheets of paper to wipe their shitty asses with.
    ~
    I'm there for you Peeps.  Lean on me.
    ~
    But for those of you who still can't figure out this choosing a candidate stuff, here is my election eve advice.    If you think Obama will pay your mortgage, keep you on the payroll, issue you foodstamps, pay for your contraceptives, abort your fetuses... all the while honing his golf game and blaming George Bush for every failure he confronts.....then Obama is your choice for President.  
    ~
    And if you think that Elizabeth Warren is a victimized Cherokee Indian, who lives in a $1.7Mil. Victorian mansion in Cambridge that she terms a fixerupper, and who represents large corporations then tries to tell the herd of sheep out there that she was really working for the people who opposed her clients.... then color in the little slot next to Elizabeth Warren's name for your next US Senator.
    ~
    I've already told you that I'm voting for Romney and Brown.  Not that they are exceedingly charismatic, but I'm betting that they are smart enough to develop policies that won't screw with me and mine, and won't talk down to me and lay a line of constant bullshit.  In the end, they'll cost me the least amount of money, so they have my vote.

    Polls and Polarization

    The Polls have the Presidential Election locked in a dead heat.  But I have to believe they are basically flawed.  I'm an Independent and nobody has called me, and I wonder if there are a lot more like me.   Independents are the majority political designation here in primarily Democratic Massachusetts.
    ~
    The polls were seriously off when Senator Scott Brown defeated Attorney General Martha Coakley last time and it seems like polling institutions like the Boston Globe skewers their questioning to meet the result that they desire rather than the actual political situation.
    ~
    Who would vote for someone just because the polls puts that candidate in the lead?    I doubt that the general electorate is that stupid.  If so, skewering the polls is a self defeating proposition, because  if your candidate leads by so much, why bother going to vote?
    ~
    If the election is really in a dead heat, then close to 50% of you will be unhappy with the result.  That's why Obama can't bask in the glory of socializing healthcare with his Obamacare Law.  Even though he rammed it through with the votes, the country is too polarized to accept its implementation.
    ~
    In a polarized situation, the victor will not be sucessful unless he can bring the country together... not jam an agenda down on the other 50%.   Obama has said voting is the best revenge.   That mentality insures his ultimate downfall, whether he wins the election or not.


    Keep in mind that 17 of the last 19 Presdential elections can be determined by the Washington Redskins game the Sunday prior to the election.
    If the Skins win, the Incumbent triumphs. If the skins lose the contender will get in.
    Final Score - Panthers 21 - Redskins 13.
    Go Mitt Go..

    Saturday, November 03, 2012

    Bloomberg Blunder

    Mayor Bloomberg cancelling the New York Marathon was a real kick in the ass.   I was so ready to exact revenge on those Skinny Africans that win all the marathons these days.   This year was my year.... at the peak of my conditioning, I was poised to take the pace out fast and finish strong, with those Kenyans and Ugandans left to eat my dust.
    ~
    Thanks a lot Mayor.  Just because the subways fill up with water and Staten Island gets flattened, you get all huffy and cancel the one chance I had to make white fat guys proud.
    ~
    I wish you were running for Prez, so I could dis the hell out of you... Mr. "I'm endorsing Obama because he is the one man who can save the Polar Bears."  Go back to BillionaireVille and pay your share of taxes, you long distance running spoil sport!!
    ~
    I'll never forgive Bloomberg for this.

    Thursday, November 01, 2012

    Vomit and Voting

    Peeps....
    Won't it be nice when this election is over next Tuesday?  I am really starting to feel nauseous.
    ~
    I truly feel that I've heard all of the Warren sound bites.  Don't need to see one more poor Sap say  "She's a Fighta.  She's fa us."  Where do you find these people Liz?  They don't look like they are Cherokees like you.
    ~
    Even the Brown ads are starting to get under my skin.   I know you are Independent and are for the Women and stuff like that... and starting to get good and sick of hearing it.
    ~
    In the end, my litmus test is "Who has treated me the most like an idiotic, mind-phucked moron who can't see through the bullshit that you are trying to stuff up my orifices."
    ~
    Once I determine that, then I vote for the other guy.